Sunday, December 16, 2007

Healing Conversation

I spent the weekend with my cousin Terri and her husband Jim, aka Sophia and Greg Haynes in Painting The Invisible Man. It is the first time we have shared a holiday season together. I had the joy, too, of extended time with many of my cousins whom I haven't seen in years.

Of course, the conversation did eventually roll around to the book. I was thankful for the opportunity to talk face-to-face with my family about the writing and the research. About the tremendous emotional journey I had been on during the years it took me to write Painting The Invisible Man.

I learned that the story filled a huge void for my relatives. For the first time, we talked openly and honestly about the events surrounding my father's murder in 1976. And I learned, too, that many of them found healing and understanding as they read through the pages.